Thursday, January 10, 2013

Thursday's Theme


I love how God works. I say that all the time. But it's true.

Here is a picture of my journal from earlier today.



Tonight, after finishing my She Reads Truth www.shereadstruth.com devotional (which was about sight) I immediately turned to My Utmost for His Highest  Devotional by Oswald Chambers. Here is a little part of what I read: www.utmost.org

Acts 26:17-18
"I now send you, to open their eyes...that they may receive forgiveness of sins..."

"This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament. God's first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, "that they may receive forgiveness of sins..." The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely forgiveness of sins."-Oswald Chambers

I read the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible. I love it so much because it has notes that explain certain verses and it has been such a great resource for really digging in the Word and finding gems of truth. I am a word girl-I love to study words and meanings.

As I was flipping through my Bible, I opened to Acts 13:38-39 (which was highlighted and underlined-and it grabbed my attention so I read it) as I was making my way to Acts 26:17-18. This is what Acts 13:38-39 says:

"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses."

Yes! It is for freedom that Christ set us free! (Galatians 5:1)

The ESV note provided this further description of the verses:

"The law cannot free a person from sin, not only because all people fail to keep it but also because it was never designed to bring out effective atonement (reconciliation) for sins; only the one who believes in Christ and His saving sacrifice is free from sin and acceptable to God."

I am acceptable to God. I am accepted. I am enough. I didn't have to get my act together first. I didn't have to wear a plastic smile. He just wanted me. A little 8 year old girl; with my little girl hurts and wounds. He found me acceptable and wanted me to know it's not about rules (the law) but rather relationship. He wanted my heart then and He still wants it now.  He wanted me to receive His forgiveness.  To receive means to take into one's possession something offered or delivered. 

Something was offered to me; to you. The forgiveness of sins was offered. He granted a pardon to me for my sins; in exchange I received life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Consider Jesus. (Hebrews 3:1) When He went to the cross He considered us. It is a choice to receive the forgiveness of sins (it will not be forced) and have relationship with Him and to really see Him as Father, Redeemer and Friend. I am so thankful that at age 8 I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9,10) 

He truly is my Father. My Redeemer. My Friend. And as Beth Moore would say, "And you thought you loved Him then." Lord, thank you. I love you so much more.

Mark 10:51 NLT
"What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked. "My rabbi," the blind man said, "I want to see!"








Thursday, January 3, 2013

Creativity

What is it?

Creativity by definition is:

Creativity: n. 

the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc; originality, progressiveness or imagination. www.dictionary.com

The back story to why I posted the definition of creativity is this: We started back to our regularly scheduled programming homeschooling today after many, m a n y y y days off. We had a restful and fun winter break. My hard-working husband had been home on vacation almost the entire time and by the end of the day tomorrow, he will have only worked five days since December 14th. It was awesome!  And I thank God for that opportunity for family bonding.

I say all of that to say, we picked up with our Biblical worldview book 'What We Believe' Volume 2 'Who Am I? And What Am I Doing Here?' by John Hay and David Webb published by Apologia Press www.apologia.com. If you homeschool now or plan to in the future, may I recommend that you find a way to include this in your curriculum choices? You will not be disappointed.

We had not read anything in this book for many weeks as I took a detour for a while and began showing my oldest son how to study the Bible for himself. The book I used was "How to Study your Bible" for Kids by Kay Arthur and Janna Arndt www.harvesthousepublishers.com.

So back to this morning. I opened up and read the following passage:

"God created all things for His enjoyment, but people were specially made to reflect God's glory. One of the ways we reflect His glory is when we create things." (page 47)

I just want to bring God all the glory in whatever it is that I do; whether that is art journaling, scrapbooking, card making, taking pictures, coloring with kids, painting, homeschooling, drawing, cooking, making frames, whatever.

Colossians 3:17 reminds me, "Let every detail in your lives-words, actions, whatever be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God every step of the way." 

My heart stands in awe of the One I love. The One I serve. The One I want to display to my children each day during school. To my family. To those who don't know Him...yet.  I am a detail person by nature so this verse resonates with me.

Details: attention to or treatment of a subject in individual or minute parts

Words: speech or talk

Actions:  something done or performed; habitual or usual acts

It is of utmost important to thank Him every step of the way. If you haven't started counting and writing down 1,000 things to be thankful for, you must start immediately. It is a life-changing activity and way of life. I have been counting since Spring 2011 and it has brought me great joy to recount the wonderful ways my Lord works. Check out www.aholyexperience.com to learn more.

Now back to creativity. I have been told by family member and friends that I am "so creative" and I do believe God has given me the ability to be creative but I read something this morning that helped clear up the creativity question:

"Creativity is not about what you can do or what you're good at. Creativity is a response. It is a way of worshipping God and who He is, a way of worshipping His infinite beauty and love. It's a way to demonstrate your love to someone who positively adores you." (page 48)

I am positively adored. Thank you Lord! My God-given ability to be creative is a gift. I don't say that in a boastful or proud way. I say that in a thankful way. He gave me a way to reflect Him. There is purpose behind everything that God gives or assigns to people. Some play instruments, some write music, some sculpt, some build, some write poetry, etc.  Whatever.  It is to reflect You, Lord. 

"The Heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship." Psalm 19: 1 NLT

My prayer is that as I am being made whole in 2013, that I would proclaim the glory of God and to reflect Him in my everyday, ordinary life. Every detail. Every word. Every action. Every creative thing I put my hand to; whatever. That it would be all done in His name, to honor Him. To bring Him glory.

"The glory of God is man fully alive." -St. Irenaeus












Wednesday, January 2, 2013

One Word


Happy New Year!

I love a fresh start and a new word for the New Year. God is so faithful to provide. On December 19, 2012 I was reading Matthew 6:30-34 in The Message and at the top of my journal page I wrote: FOR 2013! Here it is:

30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

These are the truths I received from reading that passage:

*Relax.
*Don't be preoccupied.
*Respond to God.
*Steep your life. (I like tea. Steep your life in God's reality, initiative and   provisions.) Let them sit in my tea cup for while.
*Don't worry.
*Give my entire attention to God.
*He will help when the time comes.

How GREAT is our God! It's funny (it's God) :) to me that on that same day, I had been reading Jesus Calling and the verse was Colossians 2:10. I wrote it down in my journal and moved on.

Fast forward to today. I originally planned to write this post yesterday but decided against it because we took the boys sledding and to our friends for the day. Family first, baby! :) God's timing is truly perfect. This morning as I was reading the devotional for She Reads Truth and learning about how God made Adam and Eve complete-out of nothing. How we as wives complete our husbands as God designed it to be and displayed so beautifully in His Word. And immediately after reading that, God placed this verse into my spirit: Colossians 2:10 NLT:

10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

I am complete (lacking nothing; whole) through my union with Christ. Whole. My word for 2013 confirmed so beautifully by the One I adore. Last year's word was 'zeal'; (eager desire). And He fulfilled that in me. I have never felt more closer to my Lord then I do now. Only He could take my heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh.

How I love my Lord.


Happy New Year precious friends!